He starred in his own TLC show to tell the world about the benefits of a polygamist family.
Brady Williams is not your ordinary neighborhood family man. Apart from being a movie star, he is a husband of not one but five wives and a father to 24 children. You might wonder that there must be loads of controversies and drama between them. Well, it's the opposite.
Brady lives with all of his wives and children in two huge houses that are next to each other. His unusual life became public after a reality TV show, My Five Wives, ran for two seasons that revealed intimate details of their family.
The former Mormon Church bishop, who is a resident of Salt Lake City, Utah, let the cameras roll and record his everyday life for the TLC show so that he could portray the benefits of a polygamist family, reported The Mirror.
He is married to Rosemary, Robyn, Nonie, Paulie, and Rhonda. However, if seen legally, he is married only to Paulie and the rest are spiritual unions. With five wives, the family is bound to big and in Brady's case, it is quite big. He has 24 kids with his five wives.
Talking to ABC News he said that he considers himself a "feminist" and that he believes that the world has come a lot further in terms of traditions and values than where it all started. "I really consider myself a feminist. Certainly, polygamy has been patriarchal, right. The man is in charge. But I like to think that we’ve evolved and are still evolving," he said.
Giving details about his feminist beliefs, he said, "Many polygamist families think that the man is in charge of the money and the women just have to accept what he says. I say bull."
He said that their family believes in "egalitarian polygamy where the women have just as much right to decide family government as the man." He added that finances are a huge part of the decision because "everyone’s interests need to be secured."
The father-of-24 says that "hardships in poly-family life are similar to those in mono-family life, just amplified.” Back in 2014, he had filed for bankruptcy claiming he was £240,000 ($402,000) in debt, reported The Metro.
Brady was just 29 years old when he was married to five women who were all his cousins. Brought up in the Mormon faith, they were taught to be obedient "sister wives." But now the family doesn't identify with any faith.
He says that the living arrangements and family set-up are "normal, just five times over". He takes turns to spend time with each wife as he switches every noon so that he can be with all of them every five days, reported The Mirror.
If you're wondering if the wives ever get jealous of each other, their husband assures that they all are very understanding. The kids are being raised in a progressive polygamist environment and have the choice to decide whether they want to continue this lifestyle when they're older.
Gushing about his spiritual connection with all his wives he said, "Sadly, I think most of the time in polygamy [having a spiritual connection] doesn’t exist with all the relationships. I am just a very lucky man to have it with all my wives."
The 43-year-old admits that he's not very great with names and struggles to remember his kids' names in chronological order. In 2014, he unlocked the achievement of becoming a grandfather when his daughter Karlie gave birth to son Jessop.
Celebrations are quite heavy on the pocket as well for the family. For Thanksgiving, the family requires two turkeys, one ham, yams, 20lbs of mash, two huge bowls of stuffing, two gallons of gravy, 36 bread rolls, and 20 different varieties of pie for dessert.
Well, looks like everyone's happy and satisfied in this family. It would be a real feast to celebrate special occasions with the William family. Isn't it?
References:
https://www.tlc.com/tv-shows/my-five-wives/videos/husband-to-5-dad-to-24
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/us-news/inside-insane-life-husband-five-22719420
https://metro.co.uk/2014/07/08/man-with-five-wives-and-24-children-files-for-bankruptcy-4791319/
